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THE 



WAY OF SALVATION 



FAMILIARLY EXPLAINED, 



IN A CONVERSATION 



BETWEEN A FATHER AND HIS CHILDREN. 




PHILADELPHIA: 



PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION OF TRACTS AND 
• SABBATH SCHOOL BOOKS. 

WILLIAM S. MARTIEN, GENERAL AGENT. 

1839. 



£>1 



<<5 



. 



Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 
1839, By A. W. Mitchell, M. D., in the office of the 
Clerk of the District Court, for the Eastern District of 
Pennsylvania. 



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Of A i i 

I / 



THE 



WAY OF SALVATION 



PART I. 



[The names of the children were John, fifteen years of 
age; Benjamin, thirteen; Rufus, ten; and Mary, eight. 
The speakers will be designated by the initial letter of 
each name, the letter F, standing for father.] 

F. Come, my children, as our evening 
meal is over, and the weather is serene and 
temperate, let us take our seats under the 
shady trees, which overhang the brook, at 
the back of the garden, and spend an hour 
in conversation. 

M. how I am delighted to hear you 
say this. You remember, Pa, how many 
pleasant evenings we spent under those 
large oaks, last summer, and how many 
pleasant stories you told us, all out of the 
Bible. 

J. I have made it a practice to spend some 



4 THE WAYOP 

time in that retired spot, evening and morn- 
ing, for some weeks past, and I have won- 
dered how so many people could prefer 
lying a-bed, to inhaling the sweet air of the 
garden and groves, early in the morning. 

B. I love the place too, there are so many 
singing birds, tuning their pipes, and war- 
bling their notes in the branches; and so 
many gay butterflies sailing through the air, 
and gracefully lighting on the ground. 

R. Pa, don't you remember what a nice 
summer-house we built, last summer, and 
how we covered it with boughs, and gather- 
ed the green soft moss for seats. 

M. yes, I remember, that I gathered a 
basket full of wild flowers, and stuck them 
all around the summer-house, just as if they 
had grown there; but the next time we 
came, they were all drooping, and almost 
withered. 

F. And have you forgotten what I said 
these fading flowers were an emblem of? 

M. I don't know what emblem means. 

F. An emblem, my daughter, is any 
natural or visible thing, which has a resem- 
blance to some moral or spiritual thing. 



S AL V ATION. 5 

J. I remember well, that father said those 
flowers were an emblem of youth and beau- 
ty, which must soon wither and fade, as did 
these flowers. 

B. Father, will you now tell us some 
pleasant story. 

F. My son, we must not be too fond of 
pleasant things. We must think of what 
will be profitable. Of late I have felt a 
great solicitude for the salvation of the souls 
of my dear children, and I wish now to 
speak to you of the need of a Saviour, 

During this conversation they arrived at 
the place, and took their seats. 

J. I am glad to hear you mention that 
subject, for ever since I heard our minister 
preach, some weeks ago, on the " worth of 
the soul," and how it was more valuable 
than a thousand worlds, and the loss of it, a 
loss which never can be repaired, I have 
been thinking about it; and without my 
seeking, it comes into my mind, and all 
this day, my thoughts have been running 
upon it. 

M. I wish, father, you would tell me what 



6 THE WAY O P 

the soul is. I never saw my own soul, or 
the soul of any one : I do not know what it 
is like. 

F. On many subjects, we are all children 
alike. My dear daughter, I know as little of 
the essence of a soul as you do. A spirit 
cannot be seen or felt, because it is a spirit, 
and has no flesh nor bones. But we know 
that the soul exists as certainly as we know 
anything whatever. 

M. No, Pa; I know what I see and feel 
better than that I have a soul. This book 
which I hold in my hand, I can see and feel, 
but I cannot see and feel my soul. I feel 
surer that I hold this book, than I can be of 
what I never saw. 

F. My child, you deceive yourself. Who 
sees that book ? 

M. Why I see it with my eyes, and feel 
it with my fingers. 

F. But who is this you call I? Is not that 
your soul ? If you had no soul, you would 
know no more about that book than the 
stone under your feet. You see it with your 
eyes, but the eye can no more see without a 



SALVATION. 



soul, than my spectacles can see when I lay 
them down on this bench. And your fingers 
could feel no more than my staff, if there 
were no soul. If there is any difference, we 
are more certain that we have a soul, or that 
the soul is ourself, than of any other thing; 
for every time we see, or feel, or hear, or 
taste, or smell, we are conscious, that is, we 
are certain in ourselves, that our soul sees, 
feels, hears, tastes, and smells. Try, Mary, 
to stop thinking for one moment. 

M. I cannot, for when I try, I am all the 
time thinking about trying. 

F. Well, can any thing think but a soul? 
Every moment, therefore, you have a cer- 
tainty that you have a soul. 

M. But after all, I do not know what it is. 

F. No, nor do I, except that it is that 
which thinks, and feels; but we know as 
little of what we see and feel. Here is a 
pebble, you see it is white and round, you 
take it in your hand and it is smooth and 
fills up a certain space, so that you cannot 
shut your hand close. But what is that 
which is round and white and smooth and 



S THE WAY OF 

extended? You can tell no more about it 
than you can of your soul. 

JR. Father, does the soul grow like the 
body ? and is the soul of a man larger than 
that of a child? 

F. You have fallen into a common error. 
You are endeavouring to give to a spirit the 
properties of a body; size and shape belong 
to matter but not to spirit. But in one sense, 
the soul grows as much as the body, and 
may grow long after the body has reached 
its full size. The soul increases or grows in 
two ways, first — its faculties are by degrees 
brought into exercise and become more 
vigorous from day to day; and again, the 
mind is enlarged by an increase of know- 
ledge. 

J. I like to hear you converse about 
the nature of the soul, but what I most want 
to hear is about the salvation of the soul; 
for what good would it do me to know ever 
so much about the soul if at last it should be 
lost? I cannot help thinking about our Pas- 
tor's text — " What is a man profited if he 
shall gain the whole world and lose his own 



SALVATION. 9 

soul, or what shall a man give in exchange 
for his soul?" 

F. I am pleased, my son, to hear you 
speak so seriously about the worth of the 
soul. To secure its salvation is surely the 
one thing needful. 

B. I wish, Father, you would explain 
how the soul was lost so as to be in need of 
salvation, for Mr. Ambrose, our Pastor, said 
that if it were not lost it could not be saved. 
Now, I thought that if it never had been 
lost, it would be sure to be saved. And 
would not man have been saved if he had 
never sinned? 

F. He would have been safe and happy 
as the angels are, but he could not with 
propriety be said to be saved. A man who 
has never been sick is well, but you cannot 
say he is healed. That applies only to such 
as have been sick. To save any one is to 
deliver him from ruin, into which he has 
fallen or to which he is exposed. None can 
be saved, therefore, but lost sinners. 

B. I understand this now; but how did 
we all become sinners ? A holy God could 
not create us sinners. 



10 THE WAY OF 

F. No, my son, to say this would be blas- 
phemy; (Jod created every thing good ac- 
cording to its kind. And it is declared that 
he made man " in his own image, and after 
his own likeness;" that is, he was created in 
knowledge and holiness. I think, Benjamin, 
you could answer your own questions if you 
would only recollect your catechism, which 
you repeated no longer ago than last even- 
ing. " Did our first parents continue in that 
estate wherein they were created ?" 

B. " Our first parents being left to the 
freedom of their own will, fell from the 
estate in which they were created, by sin- 
ning against God." 

F. Very well, there you have it; and 
what is the Scripture proof which you 
learnt ? 

B. " By one man sin entered into the 
world, and death by sin, so death hath passed 
upon all men because that all have sinned." 

B. But, Father, how could one man's 
sinning make all men sin ? 

F. In two ways. All Adam's posterity 
are made sinners by his sinning, first, be- 
cause he stood for them and acted for them 



SALVATION. 11 

in the first covenant, and thus they sinned in 
him, or his sin was theirs also, because they 
were included in the covenant. Secondly, 
our first parents having lost the image of 
God, and corrupted their nature, their pos- 
terity are all born in the same destitute and 
corrupt state. What other text have you 
on this subject? 

JB. "We are by nature, children of 
wrath, even as others." " I was shapen in 
iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive 
me." 

M. Why, Pa, I thought some people 
were good and some bad. 

F. No, my child, " there is none right- 
eous, no not one." " All have gone out of 
the way." " There is none that doethgood." 

M. Dear Father, are you not good ? Yes 
you are, I know you are. 

F. No, my child, I am by nature no bet- 
ter than others, and if I now differ from the 
worst of men, it is all owing to grace. " By 
the grace of God I am what I am." I have 
daily evidence of the most convincing kind, 
" that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no 
good thing." For every good thought and 



12 THE W AY OF 

feeling, for every good word and work, I am 
indebted to the grace of God. 

M. And our Minister, was he born in sin ? 

F. Yes, my child, he confesses it every 
time he prays, and this is the doctrine which 
he preaches every Sabbath. 

J. How does it come to pass, that while 
all are sinners by nature, and without holi- 
ness, that some men are moral and amiable 
from their childhood, and others are wicked 
in their lives ? 

F. It is not owing to any essential differ- 
ence in natural character, but some persons 
are kept from their youth under various re- 
straints, external and internal, which keep 
them from running so far astray in their ac- 
tions as many others. Early instruction, a 
fear of shame, a dread of punishment, and 
the absence of strong temptations are the 
means of restraining many. To all which, 
we may add the secret influence of the Spirit, 
in his common operations, by which they 
are kept in a state of tender moral feeling, 
and are sometimes under strong convictions 
of their sin and danger. 

M. Are no children good from their 



SALVATION. 13 

earliest age? May not young children be 
made good as well as grown people? 

F. They may be sanctified from the 
womb, as was John the Baptist, and Jere- 
miah, and perhaps Samuel; but experience 
teaches, that few give evidence that this has 
been their case. 

M. What then becomes of young chil- 
dren? If they are born in sin, must they 
not be lost ? 

F. Now, my child, you are indulging a 
vain curiosity. What good can it do you to 
know what becomes of dying infants? God 
has not told us, and we ought not curiously 
to inquire into secret things which belong to 
God. But as his word is silent, we may 
hope for the salvation of all who die in in- 
fancy. We know that God can save them, 
and we have no evidence that he will not. 

M. I wish then that I had died when my 
dear mother was taken away. Nurse says, 
that my coffin was bespoke. 

F. Now Mary, you are sinning against 
God, you are unthankful for the goodness 
which has preserved your life, and raised 
2 



14 THE WAY OP 

you up from the borders of the grave. It is 
true, if you continue in impenitence until 
you die, it would have been infinitely better 
for you to have died before you committed 
actual sin; but life, especially life under the 
gospel dispensation, is a blessing for which 
we are bound to be thankful. For now you 
have opportunity to hear the Gospel, and if 
you believe, and repent of your sins, you 
will be saved. Why then do you wish that 
you had died ? I hope you will never again 
utter such a speech. Your dear mother, 
when dying, requested — and it was her last 
request — that if you lived, you should be 
brought up " in the nurture and admonition 
of the Lord," and she, with her latest breath, 
commended you to God. And now, my-dear 
child, it is your duty, it is for your salvation 
to turn unto God with all your heart. Seek 
the Lord early while he may be found. 

J. If man had not sinned, as he would 
have needed no salvation, of course no Sa- 
viour would have been provided; but what 
I wish to know is, why God could not save 
sinners without sending his own Son to die. 



SALVATION. 15 

I know that man is in a ruined state, and 
must perish unless he is saved from it; but 
why could not God, if he desired it, stretch 
out his omnipotent arm and rescue him. 

F. God is under no obligation to save 
any sinner. As his law is just and good, he 
might let it have its course, and inflict de- 
served punishment on all who transgress. 
Thus he did pass by the fallen angels, and 
leave them to their doom, and thus in regard 
to the children of men, he shows mercy to 
whom he will — choosing some nations, and 
leaving others in the darkness of idolatry ; 
electing to life some men, and leaving others 
to pursue their own course. But when he 
determines to save sinners, it must be in a 
way consistent with the holiness of his na- 
ture, and not derogatory to his law. Sin- 
ners cannot be saved by a mere exertion 
of Almighty Power. The hindrance cannot 
thus be removed. God must be just in jus- 
tifying the ungodly — the law of God must 
be satisfied, or the sinner cannot be saved. 
This rendered it necessary that there should 
be a mediator; and he must be one who 
could make satisfaction to law and justice, 



16 THE WAY OP 

for the sins of men. None could do this, but 
the Son of God, and the Son of God could 
only reconcile men to God, by becoming 
man. 

J. I always think of this with wonder. It 
seems to me the most wonderful thing in the 
Bible. I often ask myself, " how could the 
Son of God become man ?" 

M. Brother, I can tell you out of the 
catechism. " The Son of God became man 
by taking to himself a true body and a rea- 
sonable soul, being conceived by the power 
of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin 
Mary, and born of her, yet without sin." 

R. I never thought before that the Cate- 
chism could teach us so many things. 

F. Well, my son, I hope you will here- 
after be more attentive to commit the Cate- 
chism perfectly to memory, and also some 
few texts of scripture which are annexed to 
each question to prove the doctrine; for if 
the Catechism did not teach according to 
Holy Scripture, it would be of no author- 
ity. It was intended to contain a short 
summary of what is in the Bible. 

R. Why are there different kinds of Cate- 



SALVATION. 17 

chisms? At our Sunday School some learn 
the Shorter Catechism, which we use, but 
others recite the Heidelberg Catechism; and 
William Van Sickle says, that their Domine 
hears all the children in his congregation in 
that Catechism every Saturday afternoon, in 
the lecture room. 

F. My son, that is the Catechism which 
has for a long time been used in the Dutch 
Reformed Church in Holland, and when the 
Dutch settled in this country they brought it 
with them; but my ancestors were from 
Scotland, where the Westminster Cate- 
chisms have been long in use, and they 
have been adopted as the Catechisms of the 
Presbyterian Church, and by all the Sece- 
ders. The Shorter Catechism has always 
been highly valued, and much used by the 
Congregationalists of both Old and New 
England. But the Heidelberg Catechism 
has been more extensively used than any 
one composed by the Reformers — all the 
reformed churches on the continent of Eu- 
rope adopted this Catechism. These two 
Catechisms perfectly agree in doctrine, and 

only differ in words and method. 

- 2* 



IS THEWAYOP 

«/. Father, if it would not take too 
much time, I should like to hear you state 
the reasons why man needs a Saviour, and 
afterwards show that Christ is just such a 
Saviour as the sinner needs. 

F. My son, I will do my best to satisfy 
you. The subject is important beyond con- 
ception, and I humbly pray that I may be 
guided so as to hold forth the truth of God, 
and nothing but the truth. I will enter on 
the task with the more pleasure, because I 
hope that you are beginning sincerely to in- 
quire after the way of salvation. And I 
beg of you all, my dear children, to give 
diligent heed to the instructions of your af- 
fectionate father, or rather to the counsels of 
God, your Heavenly Father, for his word is 
able, through faith in Christ Jesus, to make 
you wise unto salvation. 

JR. Father, when we do not understand 
any thing, may we ask you to explain it ? 

F. Certainly you may, and it will afford 
me pleasure to give you all the information 
I can. I never feel more in the way of my 
duty, and no duty affords me more heart-felt 



SALVATIO N. 19 

pleasure than to instil divine truth into the 
minds of my children, especially when I find 
them ready to hear and eager to learn. 

J. I wish you would begin with the want 
of the sinner, which is most pressing and 
most heavily felt. When the jailor at Phil- 
ippic asked, what must I do to be saved, 
what want did he feel, what kind of salva- 
tion did he inquire after ? 

F. Your suggestion is very reasonable. 
Often, for the sake of proceeding systemati- 
cally in our instructions, we begin too far 
off from the feelings of distressed souls. It 
is evident, I think, that a sense of guilt, or 
of our exposedness to condemnation, is the 
most urgent of all the sinner's wants, and: is 
that which is usually first experienced in the 
conviction of sin, produced by the Holy Spi- 
rit. Most people brought up under the Gos- 
pel have a general and habitual conviction 
that they are sinners. The frequent reproofs 
of conscience are sufficient to keep them from 
denying this ; and as all are ready to make 
this confession, no peculiar disgrace is at- 
attached to the ackwledgment. But while 



20 T HE W AY OF 

they admit that they are sinners, they are 
disposed to excuse themselves, and cherish 
the opinion that they are better than most 
others; and this general conviction makes 
no impression on them. They are neither 
humbled nor alarmed by the thought that 
they are sinners ; and, except when the fear 
of death is excited, they have no sense of 
their need of a Saviour. They give them- 
selves up to worldly pursuits and pleasures, 
with as much eagerness as if they were sure 
there was no world to come, or as if they 
had no account to render to God for their 
sins. The case which I am describing is so 
common, that it is often hard to find, in a 
whole congregation, a few persons in good 
earnest, seeking the salvation of their souls. 
But sometimes, it pleases God to pour out 
his Spirit, and then many are awakened, 
and there is, for a season, a general concern 
about the salvation of the soul. 

B. Is that what is called a revival ? 

F. It is ; and such seasons are very 
precious. Many who were far off from 
God are brought nigh, and the wicked for- 



SALVATION. 21 

sakes his way and the unrighteous man his 
thoughts, and returns unto God and obtains 
mercy. 

M. I wish I could see a revival. Father, 
why cannot we have a revival ? 

F. My dear child, your question is more 
important than you think, but I cannot an- 
swer it now. We must go on with the sub- 
ject in hand. 

J. Does all seriousness proceed from the 
Spirit of God, or may we not be led to think 
and feel on religious subjects by awaken- 
ing discourses or alarming dispensations of 
Providence? 

F. As God works by means, we can 
never tell certainly, whether a serious 
thought or feeling is merely from the ope- 
ration of God's word and providence, or 
whether the Holy Spirit gives an unusual 
energy to the means. It is safest, however, 
and attended with no danger to attribute all 
serious impressions to the Spirit of God, 
giving efficacy to considerations which be- 
fore passed unheeded by us. 

J. How can we know that we are under 
conviction of sin from the Spirit? 



22 THEWAYOF 

F. As we cannot perceive the Spirit's 
operations, but by the effect produced, so if 
we have an abiding and deep conviction of 
our sins, we know that this effect is pro- 
duced by this divine agent. 

J. I wish to know how persons feel who 
are under conviction. I am very sensible 
that I am a sinner, and I feel that I am a 
great sinner, but my heart remains hard. I 
have no tender feelings. Formerly, when I 
heard a pathetic sermon I was moved to 
tears, but these feelings soon passed away. 
Now, I seldom shed a tear, and when I do, 
still my heart feels as hard as the nether 
millstone. I wish to be alarmed at the ter- 
ror of the Lord, but I seem incapable of 
fear, and when I attempt to pray, it seems 
like a mockery; for when on my knees, my 
thoughts wander and I have nothing to say; 
or if I go over a form of words, my heart 
does not go along. I think, dear father, that 
mine must be the hardest and the wickedest 
heart that ever was lodged in any breast. I 
begin to fear that the Spirit of God has left 
me to myself, and that I am only permitted 



SALVATION. 23 

to live to fill up my cup of iniquity to the 
brim. Do tell me what I must do. 

F. My dear son, though your feelings are 
not agreeable, I rejoice that you have them; 
and I assure you they are not peculiar. 
Thousands have experienced the same. I 
cannot express the feelings which I have in 
finding you so earnestly exercised about 
your salvation. I have been, I confess, too 
negligent in conversing with you about your 
soul's concerns. I lament my backwardness 
and unfaithfulness in this particular. But I 
have felt much solicitude for the salvation of 
my children, and have often borne you on 
my heart at a throne of grace, with many 
tears, day and night. And now, I hope that 
God is about to answer my poor but sincere 
prayers. 

J. I am afraid that I have given you an 
entirely erroneous impression of the state of 
my mind. It is true, that for several weeks 
past this subject has been in my thoughts, 
and I have wished to experience some deep 
impressions, and have been willing to fall 
under pungent convictions. Indeed, I have 



24 THE WAY OF 

tried to produce such feelings by thinking on 
the most awful subjects, but instead of get- 
ting my heart softened, it has every hour 
been growing harder. As you lately pre- 
sented me with a copy of " Doddridge's Rise 
and Progress of Religion in the Soul," and 
requested me to read it, especially the for- 
mer part remarking that if you had ever 
received any spiritual blessings, you owed 
much, under God, to that book : two days 
ago I took down the book and carefully pe- 
rused several chapters; but although my 
understanding assented to every thing, yet I 
was able to feel nothing — nothing but hard- 
ness. And now what I wish above all 
things is, to feel conviction of sin, as I under- 
stand that to be the first step in Christian 
experience. Do tell me how I may get con- 
viction — I care not how painful or terrible — 
I wish to be prepared to receive Christ. 

F. Your notions of conviction I think are 
erroneous; and also of the end which it can 
accomplish. You seem to think that con- 
viction of sin consists in very tender relent- 
ings, or in awful terrors of conscience, and 



SALVATION. 25 

therefore, that you now have no convictions; 
but such feelings as you wish for would not 
give such a true sense of your sinfulness as 
you already experience. If you had the 
feelings desired, you would think your situa- 
tion better than it is now viewed to be. 
Much of the depravity of the heart consists 
in its unyielding hardness. To be deeply 
convinced of this is then a more real and 
thorough conviction of sin than what you 
are wishing for. And you seem to think 
that such feelings as you have been seeking 
would prepare you to come to Christ. This 
is the working of a self-righteous spirit, 
which desires to come with a price in hand. 
But no feelings of distress, however keen, 
would in the least fit you for the reception 
of Christ. You can have no fitness, but to 
feel your need of him. This is all the fitness 
he requires, and that you have now, if you 
feel that you need a Saviour. Conviction is 
in no other view a preparation for believing 
in Christ, than as it shows us that we are in 
a lost condition, and utterly unable to help 
ourselves; and that we must perish, unless 
3 



26 THEWAYOF 

mercy interpose: and the effect is not com- 
plete unless we see and feel that it would 
be just in God to cast us off forever. This 
is a point, my son, on which you have not 
expressed your feelings. 

J. I am glad you mentioned it. Last 
evening I walked in the grove, and was 
meditating on my lost and miserable condi- 
tion, and the thought came into my mind, 
that my day of grace was past, and that my 
sins were too great to be forgiven. This 
suggestion appeared so much like an evident 
truth, that, for the time, I fully believed it. 
I was, however, calm, and felt no peculiar 
terrors, but began deliberately to think what 
my condition would be in the world of woe. 
I had often heard that lost sinners in hell 
would forever blaspheme God, but I thought 
that I never could join in their blasphemies. 
I thought that God had not only been just, 
but kind towards me. I was fully convin- 
ced that he was in no degree to blame for 
my perdition, but that all the blame lay at 
my own door. And I had, at that moment, 
such a sense of the righteousness of God, in 



S A L V ATI O N. 27 

my condemnation, that I seemed to acqui- 
esce in it, as a thing that a holy God must 
do, to send me to hell. I never saw any 
thing plainer in my life, than the entire jus- 
tice of God in my eternal condemnation, and 
this when I seemed to be certain that it 
would be my doom. 

F. I am satisfied on this point, and I see 
nothing to hinder you from immediately 
committing your soul into the hands of Je- 
sus, who is waiting to receive you. " He 
is able to save to the uttermost all that come 
unto God by him, because he ever liveth to 
make intercession for us." "If any man 
sin, we have an advocate with the Father, 
who is the propitiation for our sins, and not 
for ours only, but for the sins of the whole 
world." He invites sinners to come unto 
him, and promises, " Him that cometh unto 
me, I will in no wise cast out." And he re- 
quires no preparation — no previous cleans- 
ing, no particular frame, or degree of con- 
viction. Come naked — come helpless, come 
just as you are, come as a self-condemned 
sinner — and come now. "Behold now is 



28 THE WAY OF SALVATION. 

the accepted time, and now is the day of sal- 
vation." Lay hold of eternal life, for by 
accepting Christ, you have life. The scep- 
re of his mercy is extended towards you — 
touch, and your soul shall live. 

J. Oh God! "I would believe — help 
thou my unbelief." 

[Here a shower of tears prevented further 
utterance, and the distressed child fell upon 
his father's bosom, and for a long time con- 
tinued to weep profusely.] 

M. Dear father, let us return to the 
house. Is brother John sick ? Why does he 
cry so? 

F. Be still my daughter, I hope God is 
dealing graciously with your elder brother, 
and I wish from my heart that all my dear 
children were affected as he is. 

[Here the conversation ended for this 
time. The other boys were much affected, 
partly with a lively religious impression, and 
partly with tender sympathy.] 



PART II. 



The father having agreed to spend the 
next evening in the same sequestered and 
delightful spot, the children were all punc- 
tually there by the appointed hour. John 
no longer appeared dejected; the dark clouds, 
which had shaded his youthful countenance 
were dispersed, and a calm and sweet se- 
renity rested on his brow, while hope and 
joy seemed to speak through his eyes. 
His heart was indeed at rest, for he seem- 
ed to lean gently on his Saviour's bosom. 
But he did not appear forward to speak; 
he seemed rather to wish to be left undis- 
turbed to the sweet repast of love and joy 
with which he had been favoured. The 
other children were overawed and were still. 
The father, who had had a long interview 
with John, was unable to conceal his swell- 
3* 



30 THE WAY OF 

ing emotions. The sweet tears of joy 
trickled down his paternal cheeks, and he 
looked around upon the little circle of his 
children with a tenderness and a solicitude, 
which he had never before felt in an equal 
degree. After some time of sweet and ten- 
der silence, Benjamin ventured to speak. 

B. Father, I wished to hear you explain 
more fully why it was necessary for God to 
send his own beloved Son into the world to 
save sinners. 

F. I did tell you that God is so holy that 
he cannot suffer sin in any of his creatures 
to go unpunished. The sinner, therefore, 
must die, or some one must die in his place. 
And the law of God is holy, just and good, 
and cannot be set aside. It must be ho- 
noured and fulfilled, which could not be if 
sinners escaped the deserved penalty. God 
had threatened death as the punishment of 
every sin. This awful word includes every 
kind and form of death, and every evil 
which ever shall come upon man. No an- 
gel could be permitted to be a mediator 
between God and man, for angels are de- 



SALVATION. 31 

pendent creatures, and can perform no works 
which are not required of them by the law 
under which they are placed. An angel 
could not endure the curse due to so great 
a multitude. A person of infinite power 
and dignity was requisite ; and where could 
such an one be found but in the God- 
head ? For though God is one in essence, 
yet he exists in three persons, united and 
distinguished in a manner perfectly incom- 
prehensible and ineffable. This glorious 
mystery is made known in connexion with 
the plan of redemption. The eternal Fa- 
ther agreed to give his only begotten Son to 
become man and to die for sinners; the co- 
equal Son consented to be made flesh and to 
dwell among us, and bear our sins in his 
own body on the tree; the Holy Spirit en- 
tered into the counsel of peace, and under- 
took to prepare the human nature of the 
Mediator by producing a pure and spotless 
birth from a virgin, and to fill and conse- 
crate this sacred but peculiar nature, with 
the immeasurable fulness of his grace ; and 
also to apply the redemption purchased to 



32 THE WAY OP 

all the chosen sons of God, and to prepare 
them and preserve them for the heavenly 
inheritance. 

In the fulness of time, the Son of God 
was manifested in the flesh, and having 
brought in an everlasting righteousness by 
his obedience and death, he returned to hea- 
ven, where he is now enthroned in glory. 

R. Father, most of what you have said is 
in the Catechism. I have been reviewing 
my questions almost the whole day. 

F. Well, Rufus, let us hear what you can 
remember on this subject. 

i?. " Christ's humiliation consisteth in his 
being born, and that in a low condition ; 
made under the law, undergoing the mise- 
ries of this life, the wrath of God, and the 
cursed death of the cross, in being buried 
and continuing under the power of death 
for a time." 

F. Very good. Let us hear now whether 
Mary can tell us wherein Christ's exaltation 
consisteth. 

M. No father, I can't remember it unless 
you ask me from the beginning. 



SALVATION. 33 

F. Well Rufus, you can give it to us, as 
you have just been over it. 

i?. " Christ's exaltation consisteth in his 
rising again from the dead on the third day, 
in ascending up into Heaven, in sitting at 
the right hand of God the Father, and in 
coming to judge the world at the last day." 

B. You did not finish telling us why God 
could not forgive our sins without an atone- 
ment. 

F. True, my son, I was led away from 
all argument by the interesting inquiries of 
your brother John; but I think from what 
has been said, it must be evident to every 
impartial mind that the holiness and justice 
of God never can suffer sin to be pardoned, 
except on account of a full satisfaction. No 
other person was qualified to render such a 
satisfaction but the Son of God ; his atone- 
ment therefore is the only ground on which 
a sinner can rationally or scripturally hope 
for the forgiveness of his sins. But not only 
the holiness and justice of God, but his truth 
and faithfulness are pledged to punish sin; 
and there is no way by which the veracity 



34 THE WAYOP 

of God can be vindicated and honoured if 
the sinner escape the punishment of his sins, 
unless some one step into his place and die 
for him. The curse of the law must be en- 
dured, either by the transgressor, or by his 
surety. " Cursed is every one who con- 
tinueth not in all things written in the book 
of the law to do them." This, God hath 
solemnly spoken, and if he fail to execute 
his own threatenings, where is his truth ? 
Such a failure in a man would be consider- 
ed very wrong, and shall man be more true 
than God ? 

B. But Father, did not God say to Adam, 
" in the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt 
surely die," and yet he lived almost a thou- 
sand years. 

F. My son, there are more kinds of death 
than one. The word death in that place in- 
cludes all kinds of punishment. And in the 
most important sense of all, Adam did die 
immediately upon sinning; for he was sepa- 
rated from his union and communion with 
God, in which spiritual life consisted, and he 
became dead in sin, and dead in law. 



SALVATION. 35 

J. I love to look at Christ on the cross, 
bearing our sins in his own body. "He 
who knew no sin was made sin for us." 
He came to redeem his people from the 
curse of the law by being made a curse for 
them. If I did not see the holy law of God 
completely fulfilled in Christ, I could have 
no hope. Now God can be just and justify 
the ungodly that believeth in Jesus, because 
he hath found a ransom. Christ is the pro- 
pitiation for our sins, and his blood cleanseth 
from all unrighteousness. I wish that the 
whole world could see the excellency of 
Christ as I now see him. He is indeed alto- 
gether lovely — the chief among ten thou- 
sand. 

F. John, you speak with feeling and en- 
ergy, because you speak from the heart. I 
rejoice in your comfortable views and feel- 
ings, but I must forewarn you that this sun- 
shine will not be uninterrupted. Dark and 
cloudy days, if not dark and stormy nights, 
must be expected by Zion's pilgrims, as 
long as they are journeying through this 
wilderness. And you will find that you 



36 THE WAY OJ 

will greatly need a skilful guide to direct 
you in the right way, and to bring you 
back when you have strayed. The need of 
Christ's atoning blood and justifying right- 
eousness is first felt and always felt, but it is 
not long before he becomes precious to the 
believer, in his prophetical office also. No 
want is more sensibly experienced than the 
want of spiritual knowledge, which none 
can supply but Christ, by his Spirit. We 
need instruction every day, and every hour. 
We need a spiritual discernment, without 
which nothing is known aright. We need 
wisdom to comprehend the things which 
are freely given to us of God, and to enable 
us to order our conversation aright. We 
need a meek and docile spirit, that we may 
be apt to learn, and we need such a measure 
of divine knowledge as may make us useful 
to others. Now, Mary, I see you are be- 
coming sleepy. Perhaps you can tell us 
how Christ executeth the office of a prophet. 

M. " By revealing to us by his word and 
Spirit the will of God for our salvation." 

«/. Father, how comprehensively and 



SALVATION. 37 

plainly this is expressed. I shall begin now 
to love the Catechism. I will go over it all, 
without delay. 

F. Suppose, my son, you begin to com- 
mit to memory the Larger Catechism; it 
contains the same doctrines as the Shorter, 
but it is much fuller, and there are many 
points treated more satisfactorily. It is in 
my opinion, the best system of theology, for 
the size of it, in the world. 

R. What, Father, better than the Bible? ' 

F. We never compare any human com- 
position with the Bible. The excellence of 
this Catechism is, that it embodies, in a short 
space, the most important doctrines and 
duties inculcated in the Bible. 

R. Why did they make two Catechisms? 

F. The Larger was composed first, and 
thinking it too long for most children, they 
abridged it, and formed the Shorter Cate- 
chism. 

J. I do not see so clearly as I wish, why 
the Mediator should be a King. I wish, 
Father, you would make some remarks on 
this subject. 

4 



38 THE WAY OF 

F. The work of redemption is a great 
and complicated work. None could accom- 
plish it but one possessed of Almighty 
power. Man had fallen under the domin- 
ion of an enemy whom it was necessary to 
conquer, in order to his deliverance. His 
own sinful passions and propensities must 
be subdued, and a victory must be obtained 
over the world, which he has hitherto serv- 
ed. When he is brought into a state of re- 
conciliation, still he remains, while in the 
body, in an enemy's country, where he is 
liable to be assailed by numerous foes. To 
oppose these he has no power in himself. 
He would fall, if left to himself, by the 
hands of the weakest of his enemies. He 
needs a Captain of salvation to protect him, 
to teach him how to carry on this spiritual 
warfare, and to give him the victory over 
his enemies. On all these accounts, his Re- 
deemer must be an all-powerful King. 
Again, the promises of God to his people, 
in the covenant of grace, require, that he 
who undertakes to accomplish them should 
have dominion over all the elements, all the 



SALVATION. 39 

laws of nature, and all the creatures of God, 
intelligent as well as irrational — so we read, 
that principalities are subject to him, and 
all the angels are his messengers — "minis- 
tering spirits sent forth to minister to them 
that shall be heirs of salvation." 

Christ also must be gloriously exalted as 
Mediator, as a reward for his deep hu- 
miliation. "Who being in the form of 
God, thought it no robbery to be equal 
with God, but made himself of no reputa- 
tion, and took upon him the form of a ser- 
vant, and was made in the likeness of men. 
And being found in fashion as a man, he 
humbled himself, and became obedient unto 
death, even the death of the cross. Where- 
fore God hath highly exalted him, and given 
him a name, which is above every name, 
that at the name of Jesus every knee should 
bow, of things in Heaven, and things in 
earth, and things under the earth." 

J. What wonderful wisdom shines in the 
plan of salvation. And not only wisdom, 
but love and mercy, surpassing all human 
conception? And what is most wonderful, 



40 THEWAYOP 

justice shines as brightly in the salvation of 
a sinner as mercy. 

F. The method by which grace reigns 
through righteousness unto eternal life, is, I 
believe, the most glorious exhibition of the 
divine attributes which has ever been made 
in the universe. While man reaps the bene- 
fit of it directly, all holy beings must be 
benefitted to all eternity by this wonderful 
display of the divine attributes; for their 
dignity and happiness depend on the clear- 
ness of the knowledge of God to which they 
can attain. 

JB. Father, I should like to hear you, in a 
few words, give a view of the way of salva- 
tion. 

F. I scarcely know how to comply with 
your request. I hardly know where to be- 
gin, or having begun, where to end. Paul 
has given it in one sentence. "We are 
saved by grace through faith, and that not 
of ourselves — it is the gift of God." The 
whole is a plan of mere mercy and grace. It 
originated in pure love. "God so loved 
the world that he gave his only begotten 



SALVATION. 41 

Son," &c. The undertaking of the work of 
redemption by the Son was of unmerited 
favour — " Who loved us and gave himself 
for us:" "As Christ also loved the Church 
and gave himself for it." " While we were 
yet sinners, Christ died for us." The work 
performed by Christ was, 

1. A revelation of the truth. 

2. A perfect obedience to the law, which 
we had transgressed, for his people. 

3. A full atonement for their sins, when 
he bore them in his own body on the tree, 
and was made a curse to deliver them from 
the curse of the law. 

4. His resurrection and a continual inter- 
cession for all that were given him of the 
Father. 

5. The mission of the Holy Spirit to con- 
vince them of sin, to regenerate them, and 
bring them by faith unto Christ. 

6. The progressive sanctification and con- 
servation of believers; defending and pro- 
tecting them from all enemies, and keeping 
their graces alive; reclaiming them when 
they go astray; chastening them for their 

4* 



42 THE WAY OP 

improvement in holiness; supporting and 
comforting them in all their afflictions, and 
finally giving them a victory over death, and 
ministering to them an abundant entrance 
into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord 
and Saviour Jesus Christ. 

7. Christ has also given assurance by re- 
peated promises, that he will come again to 
receive his people and openly acknowledge 
them before the assembled universe; when 
their bodies shall be raised from the dust, 
and shall be fashioned like unto his glorious 
body. Then shall they be caught up into 
the air with him, and shall ascend with him 
to Heaven, where they shall ever be with 
the Lord. The riches of that inheritance 
which Christ has purchased and prepared 
for them that love him, far exceeds all hu- 
man conceptions. But we know that it is 
"incorruptible, undefined, and fadeth not 
away." Then the redeemed shall stand 
distinguished on Mount Zion, as " those that 
have come out of great tribulation, and have 
washed their robes and made them white in 
the blood of the Lamb." And freed from 



SALVATION. 43 

all sin, and filled with gratitude to overflow- 
ing, they will never cease from praising God 
and the Lamb; for they cannot rest day or 
night. And they shall go no more out, but 
shall be as pillars in the temple of God. 
Blessed is every one that shall be privileged 
to join in the hosannahs and hallelujahs of 
the temple above. 

B. What I wish more particularly to 
know is, the way in which God brings a 
sinner back to himself, or what are the 
views and feelings of a sinner returning to 
God by faith and repentance. 

F. The ways of God's dealing with those 
whom he effectually calls, are exceedingly 
various in many respects, but as to sub- 
stance, the result is the same. Rufus, let us 
hear you give the answer to the question, 
" What is effectual calling?" 

JR. " Effectual calling is the work of God's 
Spirit, whereby convincing us of our sin and 
misery, enlightening our minds in the know- 
ledge of Christ and renewing our wills, he 
doth persuade and enable us to embrace Je- 
sus Christ freely offered to us in the Gospel." 
4t 



44 THE WAY OP 

F. The first step in a religious life is seri- 
ous consideration ; the next is a sincere de- 
sire to escape from the danger of perishing 
eternally. At first, outward sins and great 
sins affect the conscience; but as light and 
knowledge increase, the affections of the 
heart are discerned and felt to be sinful. 
Every man by nature is a legalist, and his 
first thought is to satisfy the broken law by 
reformation, or by prayer and penances; but 
when he sees that " the heart is deceitful 
above all things and desperately wicked," he 
despairs of help from the law. Some are cut 
off from legal hope almost instantly, the 
light of conviction is so strong; while others 
may be months and years striving to work 
out a righteousness of their own. Nothing 
is harder, than for a man to give up all hope 
of saving himself; he catches like a drown- 
ing man at every thing within his reach. 
But when this hope is dead, he feels as if he 
were sinking, and begins to cry in good 
earnest for mercy and help. He is taught 
and made to acknowledge, that he can do 
nothing, that his inability is his sin and not 



SALVATION. 45 

his apology. He is deeply convinced of the 
sinfulness of his nature, and of the exceeding 
sinfulness of sin, and that in him dwelleth 
no good thing; that he deserves to be made 
forever miserable; and that if he is saved, it 
must be by mere grace; yet he is resolved to 
die seeking for mercy, if die he must. One 
of the most common feelings of a convinced 
sinner, is a deep sense of the dreadful hard- 
ness of his heart and blindness of his mind, 
which he often thinks is peculiar to himself. 

J. Dear Father, how exactly you describe 
my exercises. 

jP. Well my son, tell us how you felt 
when you hoped that you received Christ. 

J. I am afraid to say that I have believ- 
ed — it seems too great a good to be mine. I 
am sometimes afraid that I shall deceive my- 
self, but I cannot doubt that I have viewed 
Christ as lovely and as a Saviour suited to 
me. After giving up all hope of salvation, 
while you were conversing with me and re- 
peating God's gracious promises, I felt the 
hardness of my heart begin to melt — I began 
to think that still God could save through 



46 THE WAY OP 

Christ, and the mere possibility of being 
saved, filled me with such emotion as I never 
felt before. This morning when I awoke 
from a sweet sleep, my thoughts were raised 
to God, and I believed that he was my re- 
conciled Father in Christ. Joy, humble joy, 
filled my soul. I arose, and before I had 
finished dressing, I took up my Bible and 
opened at the eighteenth chapter of John. I 
read this chapter and the next, and it was as 
if a new book had been put into my hand. 
The sacred pages appeared to be illuminated 
with beauty and glory. I knew then most 
assuredly that this was the truth of God; 
and while tears of penitence flowed at a 
view of the sufferings of Christ, I felt confi- 
dent that I trusted in Him, and that He had 
become my Saviour. If I ever loved any 
thing, I experienced love to Christ, and his 
love seemed to be shed abroad in my heart. 
After this tumult of joy and sorrow sweetly 
mingled, a serene, delightful peace seemed 
to be diffused through my soul, which still 
continues, but I am afraid is decreasing. 
My strongest desire was (o make some re- 



SAL V AT ION. 47 

turn to my dying Saviour for his love. The 
language of my heart was, " Lord, what 
wilt thou have me to do?" And immedi- 
ately I was conscious of a most enlarged be- 
nevolence to my fellow creatures, and a 
strong desire to invite the whole world to 
come to Christ, that they might be saved; 
and also a tender affection to the people of 
God and to the ministers of Christ's Gospel. 
And my heart spontaneously resolved and 
vowed to spend all my days in the service of 
God my Saviour. 

F. I do not know, Benjamin, that I need 
say any thing more. If God draws you to 
himself, as I hope he is beginning to do, you 
will understand these things in another man- 
ner from what you can now by any descrip- 
tion. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is 
good, and that " blessed is every one that 
trusteth in him." 

M. Was not my dear mother pious — 0, 
is she not gone to heaven? 

F. I hope so my dear daughter — she 
was a true Christian from her youth. 



4S T H E W A Y OF 

M. How old was she when she joined 
the Church? 

F. I was not acquainted with her then, 
but I have heard her say that she thought 
she loved Christ when she was a little child; 
she was not permitted to go to the Commu- 
nion till she was fourteen years of age. 

M. Well, I hope she will pray for me, 
now she is in heaven. 

F. Dear daughter, where did you get that 
notion. We read nothing in the Bible of 
departed saints praying for their friends on 
earth. We know not whether they pray at 
all. But you need no other Mediator to in- 
tercede for you but Christ only, and He is 
willing to be your advocate and to ask God 
to forgive your sins, and adopt you as a 
daughter. 

M. Well, Father, I am willing to be his 
child, I wish to be a Christian, I am sorry 
that I have been often a naughty child. I 
hope God will forgive me. Do, Father, 
pray for me, and for us all, that we may get 
to heaven and be for ever with our dear 



SALVATION. 49 

mother — and what is far better, be with 
Christ who loved us better than any father 
or mother. 

[The father knelt down on the ground and 
the little group beside him, and he poured 
forth the effusions of a full and paternal 
heart in behalf of his beloved children.] 



THE END. 



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